A world without light
by GhostInThePhoto
Summary: Klaus gotten what he wanted, now he s realizing the cost. And he s trying to make amends. No angst, this is going be a nice and sad Klaus, I promise.
1. A fading candle

Prologue

The night he took her away from Mystic Falls was the deepest regret of his life. He remembered her face, those tears on her pale cheeks and most of all her remembered that look in her eyes. The image was etched into his mind, but he never managed to find the one word to describe it, he could only define aspects of it: Defeat, loss, disappointment, anger, desperation and mostly dullness. Like someone had blown out the only candle in the dark.

To this day he is not sure what he regrets more: Killing Tyler Lockwood or not revealing his action before agreeing to her deal. He never was such which action had broken her more.

_They were still alive, all of them. The Doppelganger, the Salvatores, the human, the witch. But all of them were weakened, bruised and he was about to kill them. As he was about to reach for Matt Donovan, to mercifully break his neck, she was suddenly there, right in front of him. Pleading, begging, negotiating. _

_"You don´t need to kill us."_

_"I won´t kill all of you. Just everyone but you, love." he said, smirkingly, trying to push her out of his way._

_"No."_

_"They tried to kill me first, they put me in a coffin."_

_"Yeah, and you ruined our lives first, you killed people we care about, threatened us, corrupted us, sorry, but you started this war."_

_Suddenly his hand was clasped tightly around her throat. "Are you saying I deserved having my heart stopped, sweetheart?" His voice was evil and sad, all at once._

_"I am saying this won´t make you happy either."_

_"Why do you think I am planning on sparing you, love?"_

_For a long time, she only looked at him. It was quite a few breaths before she spoke again. "Take my life in exchange for theirs." It came out as quickly as she could manage. She was scared. Genuinely afraid for plenty of lives. _

He remembered considering her proposal. Not his answer, he had been ready to bark his agreement the minute she had finished speaking. But he had considered telling her about Tyler. Before she promised her eternity to him. Only, he had been afraid she might change her mind.

_He released her from his hold, while closing any distance left between them. "Okay." That was all he said. In a flash she was with Matt, feeding him her blood, before helping Elena up. The Doppelganger tried to protest. "Caroline, no, you can´t."_

_He remembered Caroline´s voice, as soft as an angel: "Ssh... Elena, it will be fine."_

_When everybody was ready to leave, she hugged them all, even Damon Salvatore, smiling like it was a sunny day and they were leaving a nice picnic. Smiling to sooth them all. _

_Matt had told her to come back to them. Bonnie had promised to look for a way for her out of this deal. Stefan had asked her to stay in touch somehow. Elena cried. Damon had uttered a humble Thank you. _

_"I need to explain this to my mom and to Tyler." He recalled that at the mentioning of the mutt´s name, his heart had sank. But he had no words to tell her. She took out her phone, calling him, and looked up confusedly at her friends, which were about to leave. She heard Tyler´s phone ring. _

_Her eye´s shot up to him in comprehension and in horror. He thought about stopping her, but instead only sighed. He could hear her run, after the noise. Her friends on her tail. She found the body two rooms away. He decided to go after her, the second he heard her open the door to that room. When he had flashed himself to the threshold, she was standing there, facing him with her back, looking down at the corpse. He could tell from her gradual change in composure that the realization was sinking in painfully slowly. Finally, she fell onto her knees next to Tyler´s lifeless body, looking at the gaping hole in chest, staring at the heart that lay next to him. And then she cried. _

_He remembered her cradling the body in her arms, kissing the boy´s cold lips, telling him that she loved him. Apologizing to him. A voice inside his head had some snarky comment on how he had brought it all onto himself, but he knew it would be a lie. The boy had done nothing wrong that all of his friends hadn´t done as well, only he had had her love. _

_He noticed that her friends, at least the witch and the Doppelganger, were trying to approach her, to sooth her. It was then, that he found his voice again. "Out, or the deal is off." _

_They all looked at him in disgust and confusion. Finally they left, the girls less willingly than the boys. Finally it was only him, her and the body. For a while, he let her cry. _

_However, eventually he got up. As he stood behind her, she hissed at him. "Go away." Instead he gently placed a hand onto her neck._

_"You get 10 seconds to tell him goodbye." And she did. And each syllable dedicated to the dead boy stung him to the heart._

_When she finally said "I´ll miss you." she caressed Tyler´s cheek once more, then she looked up at him. And he saw her fading light. Before he snapped her neck._

That was twenty years ago, she had kept her promise, she had never left. She never smiled or spoke either.


	2. joining the family

It was odd, watching her wake up again. Part of him wanted to put her back to sleep, even if that meant snapping her neck again, just so he could fix the world he had broken for her a little more.

He had had a room made for her for quite some time now. Its walls were a pale type of blue and the bad was made of white wood. While she was asleep, he had sought out her mother. After a whole lot of yelling and crying on her part, Sheriff Forbes had finally relented in letting him take anything from her old room that he thought she´d need. The pictures of her and her friends, he had placed across from her new bed, on an old vanity. The photos of her and Tyler - as tempted as he had been to simply burn them all - he had guiltily placed in one of the vanity´s drawers, leaving her to decide if she wanted them out or not. While he had instructed Rebekah to order her a brand new wardrobe that was supposed to fill-up her walk-in closet completely, he also took all of her old clothing. Anything to make her feel safe again.

He had been there when she awoke. Absorbing her dazed and confused expression, digesting her devastated eyes when it all came back to her memory. What broke him entirely was the quiet and detached way she looked up at him, when he finally spoke. It was soft, gentle, broken, confused, hushed - it was all of it.

He remembered standing right behind her, when her porcelain fingers traced along her new vanity, resting a frame holding a photo of her , Bonnie and Elena. Unsure of what to tell her, he finally had settled on "Take your time. Dinner won´t be in another for hours". It was the way her shoulders had stiffened in that insecure manner, that he had found himself longing for a rejection or any sort of response other than defeat.

She had met him in the hallway when he had gone to pick her up for dinner. Her feet gliding along the floor like a ghost´s. Her eyes had been focused on the ground ahead of her, as if she were unable to meet his eyes. She was as self-conscious as a glass figurine close to the breaking.

Oddly enough, his siblings had agreed to dine with them. Elijah felt pity for the girl, Kol felt entertained, Rebekah felt relieved due to the peace that had come from her unexpected agreement with her brother.

Elijah tried his best to make her feel normal. No matter how quiet she remained, his polite "Good evening, Caroline" and his " Would you like some more wine" never stopped. Rebekah and Kol kept smirking at one another. Rebekah, because she was annoyed that Caroline had chosen to stick to her old, mediocre clothing instead of the things she had ordered for her, Kol due to his brother´s uncomfortable appearance around the girl.

They had made it halfway through dinner that way, when Kol dragged in an obviously compelled and barely dressed girl. "I think it´s time we had a proper family dinner." he announced. As he walked the girl up behind Caroline, he extended his hand towards her "Maybe the newest member would like to have the honors?" he asked smugly. Klaus was about to make true on his promise concerning Kol´s liver, when he spoke again. "C´mon brother, I am sure our sweet Caroline won´t mind. Won´t you, dear? Maybe we can teach her how to rip out hearts next?" he smirked. Before Klaus had a chance to lung for Kol though, Caroline responded. She threw the wine in her glass in Kol´s face. As the Original was about to grab her throat, he caught her eyes. That was the moment that changed it all.

People often laced sick fascination with fake disgust. All of the Originals were accustomed to that by now, and knew it for what it was. Envy. So when Kol found sincere disgust in the blue eyes of Caroline Forbes, it ripped through him in a humbling way. Like nothing he´d ever say or do now would ever get to that girl, like he might be able to kill her, but if not for that he was completely and utterly powerless over her. It was the look that she cast all of them, first Kol, than Rebekah, than Elijah, finally setting on Klaus, that struck them. In a thousand years of existence, a lot of people hate you, but no one had ever been sincerely sickened by any of them. It was the kind of disgust that started to contaminate, like self-loathing. It shushed them.

And then she retreated back to her room, just like a ghost.

After that, dinners became a routine. A lot of things became routine. Like Klaus sitting silently in her room, sketching her, watching her, keeping her from the thought of harming herself. Like Kol constantly trying to provoke her into yelling, needing to feel like a person again. Like Rebekah taking her shopping every other day in the hopes of getting one giggle, in the hopes of feeling like a person again. Like Elijah making her tea twice a day in the hopes of feeling like a person again.

Oddly enough, it would be Kol losing his patience that would finally get a reaction out of her.


	3. Welcome to New Orleans Part I

The sun illuminated most of the room, filling it with early spring. Birds were chirping, the air smelled of flowers and earth.

Elijah had half a mind to discuss the weather, but thought it too pathetic an attempt. It´s been six months and he was still sitting the blonde girl down for tea. He would bring out the colorful china with the flowery pattern, he´d make Earl grey first and then later a pot of green tea. And she´d sit in an old armchair, silently, quietly. The way she sipped her tea always being in pity and distrust.

They had moved to New Orleans. Klaus had sat down and tried to explain most of it to her. It was difficult for them to fill her in if she held back on asking questions. Suffice it to say, a lot has happened in those six months.

After their attempt on Klaus life, the council had struck. The Original brothers had managed to keep Caroline out of harm's way, but the same could not be said for Rebekah. Though she´d still show up daily for dinner in hopes of watching Caroline turn back to normal, she was an outcast. For killing Elena when she thought Nik to be desiccated, for causing Elena´s turn into a vampire. So her brother did not move a finger to save her.

Damon and Matt had managed to save Elena, Stefan and her as well, but she was out for blood. So she went to the mansion, destroyed all of what had been left of Elena´s human blood and that was the end to it.

_Klaus had been packing the last bags of Elena's blood in an ice box, with a sobbing Caroline sitting in the corner. The news of Elena being turned, shook her up. He knew part of her wanted to go to her and reach out to her. _

_"How dare you save Caroline over me?" Rebekah had come in, demanding answers. The question itself annoyed him. "I only had time to save one of you and you can´t be killed. Rest assured, I had a worse day than you. I think it´s time for us to move on, find some more werewolves." He shot a look at Caroline, who cringed at the news. Klaus had yet to decide whether he´d leave her back in Mystic Falls under Elijah's care or whether he´d risk her fragile state by dragging her along. He couldn´t always wrap her in cotton candy, that much he knew. _

_"Create your hybrid family. You don´t know anything about family." Rebekah cried. _

_"I know how easily they can be silenced with a dagger." Klaus added nonchalantly. _

_"Or by tearing out the heart of a loved ones." Rebekah spat, before throwing one of the three last blood bags at a canvas that was right behind Caroline, grabbing the other two in a fit of spite. _

_"No." Klaus growled as he watched the blood drip onto Caroline´s hair as she kept sitting around apathetically. In a combination of rage and guilt, her turned back towards Rebekah._

_"Drop them." he demanded firmly. _

_"I warned you. I nearly broke thinking I´d never see you again."_

_"Put them down, Rebekah, there´s a good girl." he said exasperatedly._

_"It´s always been me. Not Finn. Not Elijah. Not Kol. Not Caroline. ME. I loved you through everything and you don´t even care."_

_"Drop them." _

_"You want your family? Here's your family!" Rebekah yelled, as she squeezed the bags until they were nearly empty. _

_Klaus was at her throat in a flash. "Do you know something Rebekah, you were right. I don´t care. From this moment on you´re not my family, you´re not my sister." He pressed on harder with each word. "You are nothing." With that he stormed off. _

_When Elijah stepped in, he caught a glimpse of Caroline in her corner, her hair covered in blood. As he looked down upon his unconscious sister, the girl flashed to her room. She didn´t come out for two days straight. _

Eventually, Rebekah switched from a hotel to her own apartment. After a rager at school - which, suffice it to say, only lead to another confrontation with Elena, - she kept on asking Caroline over, an invitation the girl never accepted. Part of her wanted to save the girl from Nik´s destruction, part of her needed a true friend. So she moved on to April Young.

Somewhere between the council-organized vamp-napping and the rager though, Pastor young blew up most of the council and Mystic Fall's vervain supply. Klaus accompanied Caroline to church, wishing he´d have the bravery to place his arm around her shoulder, like he was sure Tyler would have been able to. They both smelled April Young's blood at the same time. A part of him wound up disappointed when she did not talk Elena out of feeding off her, but the other had been proud for her being able to calm her best friend by just looking at her. Intuitive compulsion, free of any magic other than Caroline's pure heart. In the midst of it all, one his last hybrids got shot and in order to keep up appearances had been moved to the hospital. It was the first sign of a vampire hunter in town.

_They had found a bloodied and tied-up pastor's daughter right along with Elena. The girl's blood immediately called out to the young vampire. Part of Klaus wished he had taken Caroline straight back home after that hunter shut his hybrid, Nate. He didn´t want her to see Elena give in, as he knew she would. Just as Elena was about to sink her fangs into April, Caroline - in a glimpse of her former self - rushed forward, grabbed her best friend and pulled her away. He´d half expected her to finally speak, only she didn´t. She just held onto Elena instead. _

_"Let go of me." Elena had demanded, her eyes solely focused on the blood. Caroline simply held tighter and stared the girl down until some form of self-recognition crossed at the Doppelganger's face. When her features had slowly morphed back to normal, Caroline had slowly let go. Then she bit into her own wrist and fed the unconscious orphan that was bleeding out on the balcony. _

_She soothingly patted the girls shoulders, when she woke up and asked "Please don´t hurt me." Caroline was oozing soothing at this very moment. He was about to step in, and compel the human to forget, but stopped when he watched Caroline stand and looking softly at Elena. _

_"why did he do this..?" the hurt girl asked, looking down at her injuries._

_Elena finally got the meaning of Caroline´s look. "No, I can´t ... I can´t Caroline. You have to do it. Or Klaus. Or someone." Instead, Caroline only shook her golden curls. The only way Elena was ever going to learn was if she did this herself. _

_"No, I can´t..". At that Caroline grabbed Elena's hand in an affirmative gesture. _

_And after that, the Doppelganger did it: She compelled the school girl back into her safety bubble. He took the opportunity to flash his own fragile girl home, figuring that Caroline had been grown-up enough for one dreadful day. _

After the shooting he bumped into a brunette wolf. Fetching appearance, saucy but somehow lacking in Caroline´s glow. The only thing interesting in her was where he met her. At Tyler's place. He never got the chance to interrogate her, but her demeanor told him enough: Not realizing the girl's true connection to Tyler, he assumed for the belated Lockwood to have cheated on Caroline.

_He´d only gone to see Mayor Lockwood in order to discuss logistics in cowering up the hunter shoot-out at the mass funeral the past day. In return for his hybrids helping the town reign in the loose hunter, she´d provide them all with lodging. He could have housed all of them, but chose to only keep a few close, while leaving the rest there. Klaus feared a too high a number of people would disturb Caroline even more. She still hadn´t said a word and she still looked broken. _

_What he hadn´t expected was Caroline knocking at Mayor Lockwood's door. This marked the first time she had ventured out of the house and off his grounds on her own. He could hear the conversation at the door._

_"Caroline." The mayor had been surprised, in a sad way. She knew of the ramifications her son's death had had on the poor girl. _

_Caroline had looked about wonderingly at all the strange men clustering Carol Lockwood's lobby. "Hybrids. I agreed to house them for Klaus while Connor is running about town." _

_At that, the girl's brow shot up questioningly. She didn´t know Klaus was only a few rooms away and could picture her dubious glance. As of late, he´d gotten to know her facial language pretty intimately. _

_In his musings, he stumbled upon a stranger, looking at the pictures in the belated Lockwood Sr. former office. "You´re a new face." he said, his arms behind his back._

_The girl put down the picture. "And I take it from your accent you´re an old one. Klaus."_

_"My reputation preceeds me." he stated, as we slowly approached the brunette. "Hopefully not all bad."_

_"Only a little bad, mostly repulsive." _

_"So .. you´re a friend of Tyler's." He recalled the mayor mentioning something along those lines. "That´s strange. He's never mentioned you." In his contemplations, his ears returned back to the Mayor and Caroline. _

_"Look, I know you want to go see Tyler's old room." His pride stung at that. "But... now is not a good time."_

_He pictured his golden girl to give a sad nod. _

_"I heard that Rebekah Mikealson is throwing a house-warming party. You should go." the mayor suggested. Then, as realizing the insensitivity of that statement, she rectified her suggestion. "Or ... maybe you should just go... . you know... home." Klaus could hear the cringe in the last word, the mayor seemed to have a pretty strong idea about how Caroline would probably feel at his mansion._

_"Trust me, Caroline, now is really not a good time." Carol said._

_And a smile spread across his face as he was putting two and two together. He turned his attention back towards the wolf in front of him. "And I think I know why". He caught Haley looking after the sound of the front door closing. _

_Finally he recalled the name, the mayor had used. Haley. _

_"You know." he said, taking a seat with his feet on the desk. "You´re quite fetching Haley... I think you´ll have to run. I suggest you take the back door so Caroline won´t see." _

_The wolf was started at his familiar use of her name. "Whatever you think you know..."_

_"I don´t know anything, but I´ve put together a pretty convincing pitch and why don´t you tell me where my imagination deviates from reality." He got up and predatorily circled the wolf. "Tyler went off to the Appalachians to break my sire bond. There, he met a pack of werewolves, begged them for help. Among them was ... you. With the same animal instincts as him. Emotions ran high and ambitions ran low. .."_

_"Stop it..."_

_"Then, in a moment of weakness, the thick sexual tension became something much more real."_

_"I said stop." The girl screamed. _

_"Caroline has no idea." he concluded gravely. This delicious discovery turned out to come alongside a huge moral dilemma. _

While he was pondering whether or not to tell her, fearing that the truth would break her more, he ventured to partner up with Stefan in order to obtain the cure. If Caroline ever wondered why Rebekah stopped dropping by for dinner, she most certainly did not voice the question or anything for that matter. Kol ventured out, following fake leads to her coffin, and went away for a while. He never told Caroline about Connor or the possible cure. He felt it safest for her if she knew as little as possible. She found out though... after all, he did house him at his Mansion.

_It was incredibly stupid for them both not to hear her enter. _

_As Klaus was checking up on the hunter he had locked up next to the living room, he had assumed Caroline to be hiding upstairs, as per usual. As far as he knew, she hadn´t tried to visit the Lockwood Mansion again. _

_"I have to heave up the hybrid security." He casually commented as he sensed Stefan behind him. Though part of him was fearful. He might be here for Caroline instead of the hunter._

_"I was gonna take him." the former Ripper said, gesturing at the chained-up human, "but I figured you went through such trouble to truss him up in your red room of pain. ..."_

_Klaus couldn't help but smile. "It´s from the Inquisition. I thought it was a nice touch." _

_"What did you get out of him?"_

_"Not enough. He´s numb about the council fire and he won´t say anything about this greater evil we´re all supposed to be shivering over. What brings you snooping?."_

_"Well, I can´t say in front of him. As I am sure you´ve figured out, our friend here can´t be compelled."_

_Klaus just smiled at his captive. "You´re full of mysteries, aren't you?". _

_The man finally responded. "I told you I don´t know anything."_

_"Thankfully, I know plenty." As both vampires turned to leave the man locked up and behind, they saw her. Gazing at the man, obviously shocked to find Stefan in line with her jailor. They hadn´t seen each other since the funeral. And now she rushed off again, to hide in her pale blue safety zone. Though Klaus figured, she didn´t feel safe there either. _

_Lately, he´d grown more and more concerned. He couldn´t talk to her about her attempt to visit Tyler´s old room, he couldn´t really comfort her at the funeral or after. She barely responded when he rescued her from the council. Part of him knew that he was supposed to spend time with her, bond with her, get her to trust him. But he knew what lay behind the hunter's mystery: The promise of more safety for them both. As for this greater evil: someone needed to make sure it wouldn´t touch her. _

_Stefan, on the other hand wondered what had scared her out of the living room: The talk of a greater evil, his deal with Klaus or the knowledge that he did not come for her. _

_So while they went out, they´d leave Elijah to have tea with her. _


	4. Welcome to New Orleans - Devil's deal

She was still upstairs when Klaus had returned later.

_Klaus considered going upstairs to try and talk to her, wondering if he should instruct her to stay upstairs. He didn´t think she´d want to be present for the surely-awkward-to-be dinner with Stefan and Rebekah. They hadn´t really talked, not since she´s moved in. Caroline, for one, still hadn´t spoken. And, oh, how he secretly longed to see her smile again. He, on the other hand, couldn´t get the right words out. Of course, Klaus knew he should talk to her. If only it was that easy. _

_So instead he opted to check up on his latest house guest. "You´re feeling alright mate... are the shackles to tight?." Footsteps drew him out of his sadistic musings. "Welcome home, sister." He said, looking up. His eyes found Rebekah, followed by Stefan. And behind them, meekly looking around the corner of the door was... "Caroline?"._

_Part of him cursed himself. Every time the girl finally ventures out of her room, it´s ill-timed. First the funeral, than the near-run-in with Haley, now this. The others briefly glanced around, their eyes filled with shock, wonder and an eerie combination of guilt and pity. Rebekah was the first to move on and adress her Nik, while Stefan on the other hand never managed to return to his comfortable pose. He couldn´t stop staring at his friend. _

_"Is this a trick? How do you know, he´s one of the Five?." Rebekah spat out. "Where is his bloody tattoo?."_

_"Oh, the tattoos aren´t visible on this one like they were on the last.", Klaus explained, causing Caroline to slowly, not like a predator but like a ghost, move forward, to finally take a close-up look at her fellow prisoner. Klaus struggled to remain confident towards the other three people in the room while dreading the thought of her being so close to the hunter. His hand itched to pull her away, knowing she´d hate for him to touch her, he opted for a compromise. _

_As bravely as he could, he ventured to the dining room. "Let´s eat." _

_The others followed. Caroline didn´t. Her eyes fixed on the hunter. "Who the hell are you?" Connor asked, looking into what he deemed to have been the saddest vampire eyes he´d ever seen._

_"Love". Her head shot up at the soft voice. "Have dinner with us." he asked. With sagged shoulders and a barely audible sigh, she obeyed. _

_Rebekah and Stefan knew the deal. Original negotiations always consisted of several courses, hurtful words and young, compelled girls and escort uniforms. Caroline, on the other hand was new to this. Klaus had pondered briefly over whether to send the human away and make this dinner more normal for her sake, but he also remembered that he needed to stop wrapping her in cotton candy all the time. She´d never readjust to her old self, if he kept enabling her to stay out of the dark zones surrounding his life. So dinner went on as per usual. He pretended to ignore her cringing when he sent the compelled girl away to fetch the next course. "Thank you my lovely." he said, looking after the compliant human. "I could kiss the council for burning up all the vervain in town, they made my life so much easier." he commented with a huge smile. And he was right, the absence of vervain in town did make lots of things easier, for all of them. Not just compelling himself ready-to-be-drained hostesses for a private dinner party. Everything was so much more manageable. _

_He shot a pointed look at his sister. "Rebekah, love, eat your vedgies." and after checking up on Caroline´s plate, he added. "You too, sweetheart." _

_Both girls only glared at him, but one also added voice to her thoughts. "I´m not eating until you apologize."_

_"For which indiscretion? There have been so many." he sighed amusedly. Part of him refusing to apologize because of the way Elena´s blood had been dripping off Caroline´s curls. Part of him refused simply because he could. _

_"You broke my neck." Rebekah said pointedly._

_"You threw away Elena´s blood so I can't make any more hybrids." her brother returned._

_"Cause you took me for granted." the sister answered with an eye roll. He had taken her for granted like, in an odd way, he took everyone for granted. _

_"That´s what big brothers do, sweetheart." _

_They were interrupted by bored voice. "Let me just name the million other people I´d rather be having dinner with right now." Stefan shot a look at Caroline, thinking that neither of them should have to witness this. _

_Klaus threw his hands in the air. "Urgh, fine." and leaning back in his chair, he added. "I´m sorry. I often forget how delicate you are." He looked at his sister. "Forgive me?". Both men turned towards the other Original._

_"I take it under consideration, though maybe you should think of repeating that speech to Caroline." she spat, not really caring about the girl at the moment, but wanting to hurt her brother for a tiny second. As if she´d been showered in ice-cold water, Caroline stopped eating. She´d spent the past ramblings, cutting her stake, chewing and cutting mostly. Now shé´d stopped._

_"Okay... " Stefan let out in an attempt to salvage the situation. He could tell Caroline felt like faltering further, though he wasn´t sure what room she had left for that. "Why don´t you tell me about Rebekah´s hunter" he said, turning towards Klaus. _

_Klaus eyes angrily went back to Stefan. "Right. Alexander."_

_And so the Originals told their story. Caroline had resumed eating and listening, Stefan had abandoned every thought of food. _

_"So...that´s what this is about. A weapon." Stefan summarized. _

_"Not just any weapon." Rebekah added, causing Klaus to move forward in his chair. "Rebekah, love, don´t get ahead of the story."_

_"How is a weapon the answer to all my prayers?". The originals shot each other pointed looks at that question. "Okay, why don´t we just skip through the theatrics and get right to the point?" Stefan sighed in defeat. _

_"Not quite yet." Klaus smirked. "Because in order to find this weapon we need to solve the puzzle, which seems to have disappeared." _

_"What puzzle?" He looked at Klaus, who only raised an eye brow. "The tattoo." he added, answering his own question. "What is it?"_

_"A map." was all Klaus said. "Leading us to its treasure."_

_The tension was interrupted by Rebekah. "A fat lot of good a tattoo is gonna do if we can´t see it."_

_Klaus only smiled. "We can´t, but someone else can." he turned towards their hostess. "Why don´t you tell the hybrid to bring him in, love?". As the girl left, he explained. "You see the hunter was so eager to get to the bottom of his mystery tattoos that he mentioned there was only one other person who can see them."_

_As if on cue, a hybrid dragged in Jeremy. The next thing audible was the clinging sound of Caroline dropping her silverware as both, her and Stefan, flashed towards the boy. Only, Klaus was faster. "I wouldn´t." he said simply and strongly. "Lucky for us, young Jeremy here is a bit of an artist." he continued, giving the younger Gilbert a pat on the shoulder. Jeremy looked all but comfortable, but responded darkly. "I´m not helping you with anything." _

_In a flash, the hybrid had removed Jeremy's ring and threw it towards a gleeful Klaus. "Oh, I´m afraid you are." he promised ominously. _

_Stefan only looked on in calm anger and pondered over ways to leave Elena's brother out of this mess. Eventually though, he returned towards the table, admitting temporary defeat. It was Caroline that wordlessly refused to back down. As she tried to snatch the ring out of Klaus´s grasp though, Klaus quickly caught her hand. _

_"Love, it´s not polite to steal." he added softly before placing the ring her palm, wrapping her delicate fingers around it. "You have my word, for as long as Jeremy complies, he won´t be harmed, and when it´s all over, you can return the ring to him personally. Now, I think you still have to finish your dinner." His voice was gentle, like he was talking to a confused child. The girl looked confusedly down at her palm, feeling her skin pressed against the ring, before looking up at Klaus in fear. Fear of betraying Jeremy, fear for Jeremy, fear of Klaus. He could see the stubbornness return to her eyes, but it was mixed with grief. "Ssh... love, I promise, it´ll all end well." At that she shot an apologetic nod towards the boy, who returned it with a look of understanding._

_Then she went back towards finishing her dinner. After Jeremy was settled in with Connor and drawing material, they eventually all returned to the table. Caroline seemed removed from the conversation, not just vocally, but the way she was seemingly engrossed in her food, it seemed as though she gave no care to Rebekah´s sad romance, the five or anything. Klaus kept on watching her intently, uncomfortably noting that even when his sister finally made the big reveal, she still did not react._

_"A cure. He said there was a cure." _

_With that Klaus considered dinner time to be over, as he got up and stormed into the adjacent room. Followed by a very confused Stefan and a gloomy Rebekah. Only Caroline remained behind, she could still hear them talking, for whatever reason that sufficed. _

_"There is no cure for vampirisim."_

_"He´s telling the truth, Stefan."_

_"Then why wouldn´t you have searched for it, found it?" Stefan demanded to know, watching his host help himself to a glass of whiskey. _

_"Because when the hunters threw their final breath that night, the marks disappeared from their bodies, the map was gone, the Brotherhood of the Five extinct." he answered in boredom. "For over 900 years there was not a whisper of another hunter until our friend in there showed up in town." he added, pointing one of the two glasses he was holding towards Connor`s prison. _

_"Well, not that we have the map what do we do next?" Rebekah asked leaning against the doorframe. _

_Klaus answered simply. "WE don´t do anything." before he walked back to Caroline, placing the second glass in front of her. She barely acknowledged him. Passing Rebekah on his way back to a refill, he added. "You can´t be trusted little sister. You´ll be blabbing this secret to the first boy who calls you pretty." He chuckled mercilessly. "It´s pathetic, really, isn´t it? How she continues to hand her heart to any man who shows her a hint of affection. You´d think she would have learned by now from the endless cycle of disappointment and deception..." he ranted._

_"But I haven´t." Rebekah screeched. "Instead I stayed with you and let you leech every moment of happiness from my life. You know, at least I fared better than Finn. Klaus left him daggered because he was tired of his judgment." She explained to Stefan._

_Klaus walked up to her. "Now Finn was a dullard. He´s more interesting lying in a box."._

_"You want the cure for Elena, don´t you? So you can go back to mass-producing your hybrids. That´s why you´ve brought Stefan in, because you knew he´d help you even though he hates your guts. You know where you can shove your cure..." With that, she turned to leave, pausing right behind Caroline._

_"You know, he´ll do the same to you." she whispered into the girl's ear. "Only, when he´s done with you, there won´t be the option of daggering you away." Rebekah had flashed out of the building before Klaus had even made it to the table. He studied Caroline´s face, as she calmly and emotionlessly continued eating, thickly swallowing her food. _

_"I hope you got what you wanted out of her before you chased her off." Stefan remarked quietly. _

_"She never would have told me what I needed to know. But she´ll tell you."_

_"What do you need me to find out?" Stefan felt like he had once more signed a deal with the devil._

_"The map is useless without the tool to decipher it."_

_"The sword." Stefan nodded._

_"She knows where it is. And you´re gonna get her to tell you. You have a chance to save Elena from the very thing that is going to destroy her. You can call it a deal with the table if you like." he laughed evilly. "But you know you won´t walk away from it." Just like Caroline hadn´t. They were interrupted by the sound of a fork being dropped, the breeze of someone flashing away and the quiet shutting of an upstairs door. Caroline had finished her dinner. Her glass was empty, too. _

_When he returned hours later, his sisters final words haunted him. "No one will ever sit around a table and tell stories about a man who couldn´t love." As ridiculous as her last sentiment appeared to him, he couldn´t seem to shake it. _

_He´d have to Italy in a few hours, his private plane was being prepared, he´d only have to go to his room, collect a change of clothes and leave. He had texted Elijah, telling him the truth about most things, including daggering Rebekah. His brother had been displeased, but had promised to stay and watch over Caroline until he came back. It was more out of a sense of duty towards their broken house guest, and he would leave once Klaus was back to play jailor. Kol had already left, Klaus had sent him on a goose chase out of town towards finding their sister. So for now, for these few hours him and her were alone in the gigantic house. _

_"A man who couldn´t love." Rebekah´s words stung his ears. Growlingly, he grabbed to clean glasses and the whiskey tumblr, and slowly made his way to Caroline´s room. _

_She was sitting on her bed, wrapped in her white cotton comforter. He wondered if she´d even moved since she´d escaped here. Probably not, he mused. She shivered as he sat on the bed beside her. He carefully poured her a glass first, which he placed in her hands, then he poured one for himself. _

_He had decided not to mention Rebekah´s fate. At Elijah´s suggestion. She shouldn´t have been present at that blasted dinner then, she didn´t need to know the gory details now. Briefly he had feared for her safety, when Kol had gone off after Rebekah. Elijah only said: "He won´t." Cementing what they both had been feeling for quite some time, ever since her first dinner, since the night she threw her whine in Kol´s face, ever since she had marked them all with her disgust, she had joined them. Had become yet another reluctant family member, simply because Klaus' actions had marked her. Broken her into a being that could only exist in this family. You don´t kill family, no matter how odd the connection. They´d never tell her to, they knew she´d shatter completely under the weight of such a heavy curse. At least, at the moment she would. _

_"I have to travel to Italy for a few days, love." he explained. She nodded._

_"I have instructed Elijah to watch over you and see you to school. If you need anything, my hybrids are instructed to take care of you." She nodded, slightly dismissively._

_"Though, if you care to join me, you´d be welcome." he added, hope in his timbre. The thought of being the first to show her the world catering to his desires. At that, she didn´t nod, instead her head shot up in a quiet fear that startled him. _

_"I take that as a no." he mused. "It´s fine, love. Don´t worry, you´ll see it when you´re ready." Hopefully with him. _

_Slowly, he got off her bed, approaching her whitewood vanity. She´d taken one picture of Tyler out of her first drawer. It showed them, laughing and smiling. Trying his best to sound casual, he commented: "You really miss him, don´t you?"He picked up the frame and examined the picture, studied her happiness. Like studying a goal. "I know you tried to see Mayor Lockwood the other day. Don´t worry, I ... don´t mind. I just wonder what it is that you´re looking for there. He´s gone. You know that, right?" he asked tenderly, trying not to upset her, but needing answers._

_The tear running down her cheek answered his question. He placed the picture back onto the vanity. "Do me a favor love, ... You´re free to go and chase after whatever it is that you´re looking for anytime you want, but please, wait with that until I am back. That´s all I am asking." He couldn´t risk her going there, running into Haley. He didn´t want her to know until he knew how to handle that information. He wasn´t sure how much more disappointment she´d take. _

_Timidly, she took a sip from her glass. And then another, and another. Until it was empty._

_"Do we have a deal, Caroline?" Klaus asked. She took the bottle from him, and filled her glass. After another sip, she finally nodded._

_That night, he didn´t sketch her. They just kept sitting in a certain, awkward distance on her bed. And they kept drinking till the tumbler was finished. When he finally left, sighing at the fact that the alcohol had not loosened her amiss tongue, he turned on her doorstep. "For what it´s worth, I truly hope my sister was wrong about your fate." _

_The sincerity in his voice, and also in his demeanor burned through her as she meekly crawled under her blanket to hide from the world and all its lovelessness. He took that as an "Okay.", though, knowing that was as responsive as she´d get tonight. _

_On his way across the ocean he found himself restlessly wishing, he could have taken her along after all._


	5. Welcome to New Orleans -nothing happened

His instructions concerning Caroline's safety had been simple: Drive her to school, pick her up later, don´t leave her out of sight. Mostly, despite her promise to wait, make sure to not let her wonder too close to the Lockwood property. Klaus had feared how she´d take meeting Haley, hadn´t wanted to risk her learning the truth the wrong way. However, things hadn´t played out that way.

_Elijah had been wondering for quite some time, how Caroline was faring at school. He knew of her grades, but wondered how the rest of her life was going. She´d been spotted having lunch with her friends, although his spies confirmed that she kept up her silence with them as well. Sheriff Forbes had recently contacted him about letters from school. Apparently, Caroline´s written work was as outstanding as ever, it was her class participation that had started to lack. Teachers had displayed worry towards her silence. _

_Her cheerleading was another matter. While she oddly enough managed to keep all her peculiar committees, seemingly moving from vocal bossiness to the quieter, more frightening type, she had simply abandoned her spot on the squad. Elijah understand the general sentiment, as cheerleading did require some sort of smiling, but he felt bad for her. She had simply taken her uniform to school one morning and had returned without it. That night she had skipped dinner. _

_But he still wondered how she made it through her day without talking to anyone and without smiling, even after all those weeks since Tyler Lockwood's murder, she still had yet to show a sign of either. _

_Elijah should have known. He should have suspected some sort of foul play when Kol had returned a day after Niklaus had left for Italy. He should have distrusted his younger brother's sudden display of concern for Caroline. By now means should he have given him leave to drive the poor girl to school. It was a short-sighted decision, purely made out of hope for some peace and some resemblance of a family. _

_Though, later he found himself utterly relieved by the developments. _

_He received the call, hours after he had sent them off._

_"Hallo, brother."_

_"Kol, is something the matter. Shouldn´t you be pretending to attend classes? "_

_"Yeah... about that..."_

_He had come to fetch them right away. Kol, as it turned out, had had many things that bugged him. The list started with Nik`s superiority complex and him daggering Rebekah AGAIN, and ended with the girl and her accusing silence. The girl whom all of his wit, humor and charm have failed to compel into talking again. It had been a whim. He had read about that other school online, and the next, he had simply taken a couple of different turns along the road. _

_When he had stopped the car in front of "Founders' Rock High school for the deaf and mute", he had even been amused. Caroline had looked like an exquisite china doll in that moment. _

_"Well... you were the one who chose to stay silent, now go and be mute." Was all he said, before opening the door for her. He had walked into the building, knowing she´d walk after him in her ghostly way. _

_Then he had compelled the principal and her staff. He had spent the rest of the day watching her. _

_By the time Elijah had found them, he was lounging on a set of bleachers, watching his newest sister adapting to signing. _

_"What on Earth were you thinking?" Elijah asked quietly._

_"I thought it would be fun." _

_"Whatever you´re angry about, it´s not her fault. She did not dagger our sister. To my knowledge, she had not even been aware of Niklaus' plans."_

_"Maybe so... but she did choose to shut us all out. Still does. I just thought I´d give her some place new to fit into." he smirked, still looking at the girl from afar._

_"She doesn´t belong here. This place is not for people like her..."_

_"Caroline can´t speak. She might be able to physically, but she can't bring herself to actually do it. She needs to talk, but she can´t use her voice. That girl is too terrified to even utter a syllable. So what if this is all a joke... look at her... it looks like she finally found a place where she might fit in." _

_At that Elijah´s eyes followed Kol`s. He saw Caroline, shyly practicing signs, adding more and more gestures to her vocabulary. She even attempted small conversations. Her face was still blank and sad, but the passivity had gone._

_"Look into her eyes, Elijah" Kol had said in annoyance. His joke had gone a way he hadn´t premeditated. Instead of hurting her, he had helped her. It felt good and dark at the same time. _

_Elijah had never been more surprised when he found joy in the eyes of Caroline Forbes. It may not have been a joy that reached her face, but it was a joy that had not been there before._

_"Niklaus will not be pleased."_

And Niklaus hadn´t been. Elijah had informed him of Kol's indiscretion and of Caroline´s progress. He neglected to pass on the fact that throughout the entire conversation the girl was sitting on the stairs, listening in. His brother's response had been a firm rejection. "She does not belong there Elijah" and with that it had been made final. Caroline would not be returning to Founders' Rock.

He hadn´t blamed the girl for running out, Elijah thought she could use some time to herself. It hadn´t occurred to him that she might go the Lockwood Mansion, where Klaus had been housing most of his hybrids these days.

_Haley was talking to the hybrid, not even noticing the blonde entering. "Look man, this guy is dangerous. He´s highly trained... He´s armed..."_

_"I can handle myself." That´s what the doomed boy had said. "Besides, Klaus asked me personally..." _

_"This is a bad idea." Haley had been about to not give up but maybe take a breather before trying to argue again, when Caroline, blonde and clad in a green leather jacket, had stepped in, confusion in her eyes. She knew about the hunter who had taken Jeremy and Matt, her mom had send her a text confirming that she´d help her friends... but Caroline had grown accustomed to being the quiet spectator, her job had become to stay out of things, and the thought of having once more stepped into something terrified her. _

_"Who the hell are you?" Hayley had asked. She had heard about Caroline living in the house, but had yet to see her. The girl was known to hide out in her room, to stay out of everyone's hair until Klaus' other brother brought out the china. At least that´s what she´s heard. But she could tell that the girl in front of her had a similar, yet unspoken question on her mind. _

_"Oh, you´re Tyler's girl." Ignoring the hurt in the other girl's eyes. "Told me about you. I'm Haley." Since her name did not seem to ring any bells, she added. "I´ve been staying in town for a few days. At the Lockwood mansion." When the sad girl's eyes only grew wider, she added. "I needed a place to crash. Tyler is.. was ...a buddy, his mom was kind enough to offer." For a second there was a flash in those blue eyes. Defiance. Demand for answers, but it vanished. Haley had heard little of how exactly Tyler's girl had come to stay with Klaus, but she knew it was connected with death and rumor had it the event had put out the girl's fire. As content as Haley had been with being spared the teen drama, she pitied the girl. "Excuse me..." she added, remembering the bound-to-be-killed hybrid in the other room. _

_"Dean you don´t need to do this" She said, strolling in like she owned the mansion. _

_"Stay out of this, Haley. I´m going." _

_"Just listen to me, ...it´s suicide. Klaus told you to take Connor by yourself and you can´t even fight back." She heard Caroline step in behind her, and a look at her face told her that Caroline at least knew who Connor was. "You have to use non-lethal force... what the hell is that?"._

_"Klaus gave me a direct order." _

_"It´s too dangerous. That maniac already killed Nate."_

_"You´re not a hybrid, you don´t know what it´s like. Klaus asks for something, you do it." She swore she saw Caroline giving a brief yet disgusted nod at this._

_"Look, Tyler was a hybrid. He used to do everything Klaus said, until he didn´t anymore. You don´t have to either."_

_"Tyler´s dead. You think someone like you could stand up to Klaus?." Dean had asked in a sad mock. Caroline had seemingly shrunk after that. Then Dean had given Haley his phone. "Prove it."_

_"Hallo." Klaus had responded on the first Ring._

_"Klaus."_

_"Haley. I hope you´re not causing any problems?"_

_"I can do whatever I want, I am not sired to you?."_

_"Fair enough." the bored voice had answered. "But if you insist on hanging out with my hybrids, I suggest you stay clear off my mansion. I´d prefer if your little secret about Tyler's time in Appalachia stays secret." He didn´t add Caroline´s name, the demand was clear enough to Haley though. Had he known about the girl already being in the room, he´d probably shut up about that. "So if you wish to keep up your boytoy's reputation as a stand-up guy who´d never cheat on his girlfriend, I assume you you drop the attitude." _

_That had pretty much been the end of the conversation. She could see something break in Caroline´s face, her conscious urged her to clear it up. Haley gave a defeated look to Dean. "Do whatever the hell you want..." He wound up dead within the hour. _

_Caroline walked back in, as she was hugging Kimberley, one of the few other female hybrids around. "I can´t believe Dean's gone. We could have saved him." Haley had just finished the sentence, when she caught sight of the girl that had her arms wrapped around herself protectively. "Caroline...about the phone call... it´s not like that." Haley explained. All she met was doubt, though. _

_"You have to understand..." and she found herself pushed against a wall before she even got to finish. _

_"He never fell for me." Haley yelled. "Caroline, I saved his life. Tyler almost died, trying to break the sire bond. I was there for him, I helped him get through it, but nothing else happened." Caroline´s expression did falter, but not by much._

_"I just rather have Klaus think THAT then him knowing the truth..." she sighed, realizing there was no way back from telling her. "There are other hybrids that need to be set free. I can help them. But if Klaus found out about what I´m trying to do, he´d kill us all." An hour later, Haley knew how weird and difficult it was talking to a mute person. And how annoying it felt. _

_An hour after that, Caroline had agreed to help her._

**okay... I am not overly happy with this bit... but I hope you still like the way it**


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